D.c. Metro Installs Toxic Chemical Detectors

December 25, 2001|By Lyndsey Layton The Washington Post

WASHINGTON — After two years of experimenting in secret, Metro will activate sensors in two downtown stations next month and become the first subway in the world that can detect a release of toxic chemicals.

The move signals that the technology is ready for use in other subway systems, airports, malls and other large, enclosed public spaces, federal scientists say. Anthony Policastro, an engineer at Sandia National Laboratory who is overseeing the Metro project, said his team will continue to improve the sensors but that the basic system works. "We have been testing for some time, and we're satisfied," he said.

That has encouraged subway managers in Chicago, Atlanta and Los Angeles, who, along with National Park Service officials, have expressed interest in the technology, Policastro said. Boston has begun experimenting with a sensor at the suggestion of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Lincoln Laboratory, which is providing technical expertise to the subway. The Park Service is considering installing sensors in the Statue of Liberty.

And scientists are installing sensors in an undisclosed airport, Policastro said.

Work on the $7.5 million Metro sensors began in 1999 and was progressing quietly until Sept. 11, when the terrorist attacks made it a priority among lawmakers and administration officials. On Thursday, Congress approved $15 million to expand Metro's sensor program from two stations to 12.

The sensors are similar to fire alarms in a home, said Jonathan Kiell, a spokesman for the Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration. An alarm is key during a chemical release because a quick evacuation can save lives.

The sensors, which are about the size of a small box and are hidden in the two stations, continuously suck in air and analyze it. When they detect one of several toxic chemicals, they bleat quietly and sound an alarm in Metro's operations control center. Policastro won't discuss the chemicals the sensors are designed to detect.

The devices are not yet able to pick up biological agents, such as anthrax and smallpox.